Thane + Biggs + third ship?

By Pumpkyre, in X-Wing Squad Lists

I'm considering build for tournament play or regionals involving synergy between Thane and Biggs. Trouble is, I'm not sure which ship should fill the third place in this build. For Thane and Biggs, I think this could work:

Thane Kyrell (26)

M9-G8 (3), Weapons Engineer (3), Alliance Overhaul (0)

- At first, providing allies with rerolls. Then, when violence starts, Thane can switch TLs to either increase chance of R4-D6 working (rerolling crits) or boosting return shots. After Biggs dies, he should be still able to dish out some damage and help his remaining squadmate.

Biggs Darklighter (25)

R4-D6 (1), Integrated Astromech (0)

Unknown 3rd ship (40-42)

Now the tricky part. I have three potential candidates in my mind to fill this slot:

1) Norra Wexley (PtL, R2-D2, VT, TG) ( 40 )

2) Miranda Doni (TLT, Chopper, LRS, HM, EM) ( 42 )

3) Poe Dameron (PtL, BB-8, AT, PT, B1) ( 42 )

As I do not own K-Wing, Miranda is not my first choice, but I cannot deny her efectiveness. Personally, Norra is my favourite as she hits pretty hard and can endure some punishment. Plus 2 pts may be spent on seismic torpedo or VT on Thane (to add some control factor/maneuverability). On the other hand, Miranda can probably benefit the most from Thane's droid (mainly TLT shots). And there is Poe, which has no regen ability, but is still durable and probably more maneuverable than both Miranda and Norra while retaining ability to shoot. Also, PS9.

Any experience with similar lists or ships in question? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Yeah, those are some tough choices!

Personally, I'd go with Norra. She can hit hella hard, more often than Miranda, even though Miranda might last a little longer. However, I'm a big fan of Kyle on Norra, that way she can easily get all 3 actions, or else double focus if she needs whenever she ditches the stress.

If you go with Norra, Chopper really isn't worth it on her, as she essentially never gets stressed. A more defensive build would have 3PO, and a more agressive build, well, there's lots of choices.

Best of luck!

I think Norra is the best of those three choices for that squad. I like the build that you have with her as well. I've played against Norra with both Kyle and Ezra as crew and they seemed effective but Tail Gunner just seems to make that rear arc of her so much more scary than it is with other crew.

Much as I love flying Poe, I think Norra or Miranda fit better with this list.

In the end I plumped for Norra on the basis that it will be easiest to keep the squad together and in range of Biggs' magic protection. 2 points for VTs on Thane sound like a good bet to me since he has 2 arcs to abuse with repositioning.

I ran Biggs and thane with a VCX-100.

Biggs: R2-F2, IA

Thane: R2-D6, Expose, Title

Lothal: FCS, Auto-Blaster Turret, Zeb, Tactical Jammer

Biggs ends up with 4-5 Agility while Thane and the VCX kill something. Each getting 4-5 dice attack. It's a fun list.

I ran this list at NorCal Regional in Sacramento a few weeks ago, almost identical to your Miranda option (went 4-2 with good chance at 5-1 missed cut by like 13 MoV):

Thane: M9-G8, Weapons Engineer, Title

Biggs: R2-D6, IA, Adaptability

Miranda: Rey Crew, TLT, Plasma Torp, EM, Chips

Norra's a great option, but after testing both I'm firmly in Miranda's camp. Having rerolls on both TLT shots from the M9 droid plus double focus tokens from Rey wrecked opponents, even token stacking defenders. I love the interaction between Thane and Biggs with the M9 droid, it's both offensive and defensive. Biggs didn't even die in two of my matches. Good luck at your tournament!

Thank you very much for your suggestions!

I'll try the list tomorrow in few practice matches. I'll go with Norra (probably with TG to make use of that rear arc) and see how it suits me.

Tlt m9g8 is like THE reason to take m9g8

Also be prepared to be woefully Disappointed by tailgunnerless arcs

I ran the exact same setup, so i know howunderwhelming it is

Much rather have a tarn or pava

Edited by ficklegreendice

So I played the list with 40 pts Norra with the last 2 pts spent on VT for Thane.

It was fun. I usually play the Empire, so having shields and astromechs was refreshing. And two ARCs next to each other look really great.

On the other hand, I'm not used to fly in close formation and it showed. Bumping Norra for two consecutive turns and generally bad squadron maneuvering led to my defeat, even though I managed to destroy almost all of my opponent's ships. I will definitely try this build again, as now I know what I did wrong.

I am testing a build very similar to this suggested. But I am focusing in keep Biggs alive while Thane can perfom great attacks. My squad is:

Thane Kyrell (33)

Jyn Erso (2), R2-D6 (1), Alliance Overhaul (0) and Expose (4)

Biggs (28)

R5-P9 (3), Integrated Astromech

Norra Wexley (39)

Draw Their Fire (1), Plasma Torpedoes (3), Jan Ors (2), R2-D2 (4), Alliance Overhauk (0) and Guidance Chips (0)

With this Squad I use Jyn Erso to try place a Focus and Evade Token on Biggs, while I keep his Focus to regen. Then every attack on him makes Thane gets bigger with Expose, TL and Maybe a Focus.

Also Norra is used to draw a crit and help Biggs get alive longer. It is working for now, but you have to keep the formation (no matter what).

Any suggestions on how to improve it?

B.Regards, Sully.

Edited by SullyJr